Chapter 20

"Are civilians' lives precious, while ninja lives are worthless?"

Senju Hashirama asked in confusion, "What...?"

Before he could finish, both their expressions suddenly changed. They exchanged a glance, each seeing the gravity in the other's eyes. Madara waved a hand, knocking the window open, then vaulted out of the room. Hashirama followed close behind, leaping onto the roof. The next instant, explosions thundered one after another, stretching from the city gate all the way down West Street. Countless wooden houses collapsed.

The sudden disaster sent the ninja scrambling for high ground to escape the blasts. Ordinary people with nowhere to flee ran about in panic, their cries and screams rising all around. From above, the whole town was shrouded in choking clouds of dust and smoke.

"At least a thousand Explosive Tags. What a lavish display!" Madara narrowed his eyes slightly. His natural air of authority radiated without him realizing it, and the sharp pressure made Uchiha Etsu, Uchiha Zhi, and the Senju clan members hurrying over with him too afraid to approach. His mind rapidly assessed the situation. Who was behind this? Who had deliberately come here to cause trouble at this particular moment? And what was their goal?

"Hashirama, gather the Senju Clan's Water Release users and put out the Explosive Tags! Zhi, investigate the suspects and capture them alive! Etsu, take the medical ninja and members of the Nara Clan to help the injured ninja and civilians. Have everyone who wasn't hurt clean up the streets! I don't want to see things looking like this after noon!"

Hashirama didn't take issue with his commanding tone. He called over his clan members and assigned them their tasks, then turned to Madara. "The Senju Clan has medical ninja too. Let's send them along!"

The ninja quickly got to work, and Water Release flooded the town's streets. The medical ninja set up in an open space to treat the wounded. Civilians made up seventy percent of the casualties. The major clans, including the Senju and Uchiha, were staying at key properties owned by the Merchant Alliance. With strict security, they had suffered the least damage. The orderly rescue efforts gradually calmed the chaos.

Cries of pain rang in his ears, and blood stained the ground beneath his feet. Madara pressed his lips together, his expression unreadable. His lowered lashes hid the killing intent in his eyes. The Uchiha and Senju were jointly responsible for security at the negotiations, yet such a huge failure had occurred! Great! Just great! They hadn't even gotten the chance to laugh at Hyuga, and now their own clan was already a laughingstock!

"Yan, notify the clan. Take money from the family treasury to compensate the town's residents for their losses. We'll cover all medical expenses for those injured in this incident." As for their reputation, he'd salvage as much as he could. Madara had already begun darkly planning to pin all the negative fallout on the unknown culprit. You dare undermine me? Before you die, you can at least make one last contribution to the Uchiha Clan, you bastard!

"The Senju Clan will take half the responsibility too." Hashirama walked over slowly, his expression grave. "Madara. Have you caught the culprit?"

Madara composed himself and suppressed his killing intent, his expression calm. "He won't get away... Yan, has there been any news from Zhi?"

Uchiha Yan replied respectfully, "The Fourth Elder has a lead."

"Take me there. Hashirama, you should come too. Your Senju Clan was affected as well."

"Head of the family?!" As soon as Uchiha Zhi saw Madara, his brows drooped. His already untidy short hair had been mussed up even more from being tugged at. Seeing him like this, Madara asked, "You caught him?"

"...Yes."

"Was it troublesome?"

Uchiha Zhi lowered his head and said in a low voice, "No... I failed to do my duty and secure the area. Please punish me, Head of the Family!" With that, Uchiha Zhi suddenly dropped to one knee in apology.

He had always been in charge of the clan's security. He'd never expected to stumble in a place this small! Lord Cang! Lord Tai! Etsu! Even the unreliable Masahiko would do! Anyone, please come save me! The Head of the Family will definitely kill me once he finds out the truth!

Madara gave him a suspicious glance, then walked past him into the room where the prisoner was being held. Then... Madara's eyes widened in rare surprise. Hashirama, who had come in behind him, also opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

...Uchiha Zhi really wanted to scratch the back of his head, laugh three times, say, "Just passing through, haha," and leave!

"It was him?"

"Yes, Head of the Family!"

People who rarely showed much emotion were even more frightening when they got angry. Uchiha Madara's expression was now half a smile, and a chill gleamed in his dark eyes. Even Uchiha Zhi, usually a bit slow on the uptake, didn't dare say a word.

"You ninja! You live off people's blood! You're beasts! Demons! Demons!"

"You killed my son! You got my grandson killed! My home is gone! My village is gone! I'm all that's left!"

"I'm not afraid anymore! Come on! Come on! I'm not afraid of you! Let's die together! Demons!!"

He'd considered all sorts of possibilities, but never once had he imagined the culprit would be a scrawny old man with not a trace of chakra. Even as he was held down, the old man kept struggling and cursing the ninja, his eyes bloodshot. The ninja who had been monitoring everyone coming and going had fallen into a fixed way of thinking. They'd underestimated ordinary people far too much.

Madara wouldn't hold it against the old man. He also had his doubts about the way ninja lived, though bloodline and status had kept him from saying anything. But he wouldn't naively believe that this old man was the mastermind behind the incident.

A thousand Explosive Tags. Could a destitute civilian afford them?

Someone had used the old man as a pawn, even if he'd agreed to it willingly. But for someone to slip into a place crowded with ninja and secretly plant a thousand Explosive Tags under their watch... There was a traitor among the clans attending the negotiations.

There'd been no word of anyone buying Explosive Tags in bulk on the market in the past six months... At least one major ninja clan capable of making its own Explosive Tags was behind this, and they specialized in Fire Release chakra.

The destruction couldn't seriously obstruct the negotiations; at most, it would hurt their reputation. Anyone with the time and money to pull off something like this... had a noble accomplice. They'd probably prepared further moves as well...

Countless deductions flashed through his mind. In reality, it all happened in an instant.

"Zhi, you're in charge of security. The prisoner is yours. Deal with him according to the rules." Endangering security, disrupting the operation, and harming innocents carried only one punishment: death. It was the same for every clan.

Madara's calm tone almost made Uchiha Zhi feel as if he'd been let off easy. But when he secretly looked up and saw the chilly half-smile at Madara's lips, with one dark eye seeming to say, "Just you wait," and the other, "I'll settle the score later," his heart trembled, and he wilted again.

"Wait." Hashirama stopped him. "Madara, he was only being used..."

Madara curled his lips slightly. Hashirama had taken pity on the old man. That made sense. The old man had lost his family and home, been used by someone else, and posed no threat. There wasn't much point in holding it against him. But since he'd dared to cause trouble in Madara's territory, even if he didn't die, he should have been prepared to be used until he did.

"Hashirama, if a ninja went on a rampage and disrupted an important gathering, what would you do?"

"Question them first, then decide how to deal with them." That was the usual practice in the Ninja World.

"Then what would you do if an ordinary person used Explosive Tags to kill a lot of innocent people by the roadside?"

Hashirama caught on. "Madara, it's not the same thing. The old man was being used—"

"Right, he was being used. Someone else would've taken his place if he hadn't done it. But this was the path he chose, so he should've been prepared to face the consequences. What about all the people outside who were injured or even killed—civilians and ninja alike? Aren't they innocent? Having a reason doesn't mean you don't have to pay the price." Madara frowned. "Or do you think ninja hurting civilians is bullying the weak, but civilians hurting ninja is justified revenge?"

"Are civilians' lives precious, while ninja lives are worthless?" Hashirama suddenly began to understand what Madara had meant earlier. He wanted to say something, but as he gazed into the other man's midnight-dark eyes and saw his own reflection there, he froze.

"Besides, revenge. Who in this world is without sin? You have your sins, and so do I. Ninja's hands are stained with blood. We—we all deserve to die. But who gave anyone the right to take revenge? Ordinary people hunt other creatures to survive. Do those creatures deserve revenge?"

"Senju Hashirama, what I truly want to know is, what are ninja to you? Executioners or judges? If you don't think this through, the peace you want will always be an illusion."

Hashirama fell silent for a long time. "Madara... let me think about it."

"Suit yourself." Madara glanced at the old man. "I'll leave him in your hands. The stack of documents I brought is where you're staying. There's less than an hour before the negotiations, so take a look at them first. I still have some matters to handle on the Uchiha side. I'm leaving!"